A Crying Baby and a Secret Plan
by pottergoose
Summary: When James is on duty to watch after nine-month-old baby Harry while Lily is out for the night, things take a serious turn, or shall we say, Sirius turn, when his best friend comes over. James has something important to discuss with Padfoot about a feared future, and he's looking for help from his friend.


James Potter was currently holding his crying nine month old child, trying to rock him to sleep. Tonight, it was his job to look after Harry while his wife Lily was spending an evening at Diagon Alley with her girlfriends.

Harry was just beginning to nod off on James's shoulder when a very loud pop was heard. Sirius Black appeared in James Potter's living room, and within moments, a screaming, crying baby was brought to their attention.

James glared at Sirius in annoyance. "Really? He was just falling asleep!"

Sirius grinned at his best friend sheepishly. "Sorry mate. I probably should have given fair warning first.

"Well it'd have been nice, but who am I to talk? I'd probably have been just as reckless if the tables were turned," James laughed, rocking Harry gently in his arms. Sirius held out his arms to offer assistance. James quickly handed Harry to his godfather.

Harry stopped crying for a moment, confused why he was moved around. He squinted up at his godfather's eyes, with tears still threatening to fall, and said, "Pad pad?"

"Hey buddy," Sirius smiled. Within moments, the tears disappeared and Harry lit up, excited to see his favorite big friend, Padfoot.

…..

An hour or so later, the pair of Marauders were seated in the kitchen; after finally getting Harry down for his sleep. Sirius chuckled. "Five years ago, did you ever believe this was possible?"

"Five years ago, Lily still hated me, I was still a bully, and we were still young and ignorant. While I only dreamed it, I didn't really think it would ever happen. At times it felt like a lost cause," James reminisced.

The two friends started chatting and reminiscing about school and where they were now, and how far they had come. But James had something specific in the back of his mind nagging him, and he just needed to put it out in the open for his best friend. He took a swig from his butterbeer, released a deep breath, and began. "Sirius, Lily and I have been discussing things lately."

"You're not having another baby already, are you?' Sirius quickly asked.

James laughed and said, "No. I think we're taking a break from that for a bit to raise Harry. There was a long pause. "Sirius, listen to me," he began again. "Now please don't say anything until I'm finished.

"Okay."

"I said don't say anything yet," James teased. "The war with You-Know-Who is getting really bad and Lily and I are really worried.

"Well sure, I mean…"

"And…we've decided that we need to go into hiding for Harry's protection. Lily fears that You-Know-Who may be after Harry, after what Dumbledore told us about the prophecy. And we both want to do whatever we can to keep him safe. But, here's the thing. In order for us to go into hiding, we're going to need protection."

"True, but you have the Order, and Dumbledore, and…," Sirius interrupted.

"I know, but this is different. They will all know we'll be in hiding, but to keep Harry safe; especially since the rumors that there may be a traitor in the Order... we need to take extra precautions. We already discussed our decision with Dumbledore and Mad-Eye just for back up, and they agreed. We're going to choose a secret keeper." Sirius paled noticeably, quickly understanding where James was going with this conversation. "I've decided I wanted my best friend to do that job. I can't picture anyone better to keep our secret."

Sirius sat there for a few minutes in silence, contemplating the conversation. He took a drink from his butterbeer, put it down and finally said, "No."

"What?"

Sirius gulped. "Prongs," he started, looking James straight in the eye. "Listen to me. I feel blessed, loved, I'd do it in a heartbeat if I thought it wasn't endangering you more." James went to open his mouth in protest, but Sirius continued. "I think, just listen mate, I think that someone like Snape or Malfoy who were in school with us, would expect if you were going to into hiding, your best friend would be the first to know. But here's an idea, what if he wasn't?"

"Okay, tell me what you're thinking," James listened carefully.  
"What if it was someone close to you, but less predictable to the Death Eaters."

"Well sure, you mean like Marlene, or Alice and Frank, or…"

"Well, sure, I didn't think about them actually, but honestly Marlene is Lily's best friend and Alice and Frank are a bit busy looking after little Neville right now, so they have their hands full."

"Well true," thought James. "So who'd you have in mind?"

"What about Peter?" Sirius asked.


End file.
